Woods and Federer bound together

Although they play vastly different sports, the careers of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer seem destined to be forever intertwined.

Outside of their arenas they’re good friends and have, of course, been the kings of their respective sports, being downright dominant for much of the decade.

But if you wind the calendar back one year to August 2009, you’ll start to see some evidence of their empire’s beginning to crumble.

At that time…

…Roger Federer was a month removed from winning Wimbledon for the sixth time—his fifteenth career Grand Slam title.

…Tiger Woods was in the midst of a season where he had already won four tournaments—including two in the month of August alone—after starting the year late while recovering from knee surgery.

And that’s when things began to unravel, even if the true extent wouldn’t be known for months.

First, Federer was knocked out of the Rogers Cup in Montreal in the quarter-finals.

Then Woods saw his record of 14-0 when leading going into the final round of a major championship blemished for the first time, as Y.E. Yang—and not Woods—won the PGA Championship.

In September, Federer rolled into the final of the U.S. Open only to be thwarted by Juan Martin Del Potro in five sets.

And, of course, in late November Woods crashed his escalade and effectively opened Pandora’s box, tarnishing his once unassailable image.

And while 2010 hasn’t been a total waste, it has been a struggle for both.

Sure, Federer began the year on the right note, thrashing Andy Murray in straight sets to win the first Grand Slam even of the season, the Australian Open.

But that’s been his only win thus far and he was knocked out in the quarter-final round at the next two Grand Slam tournaments, making it the first times he hadn’t reached at least the semi finals since 2004.

And outside of his performance in the majors—where he’s finished no worse than in a tie for twenty-third—Woods has been anything but the best player in the game, while his play at the WGC-Bridgestone Championship last week led many to ponder if his days as a championship competitor were over.

But as we approach the dog days of summer once again, despite all the negativity and doubts about their stature, both seem poised to redeem themselves in 2011.

Federer will play Andy Murray in the final of the Rogers Cup today after gutting his way through tight three-set thrillers against Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych and will enter the U.S. Open later this month as one of the prohibitive favourites.

Even though Tiger will fall short in a major for the eighth straight time (Woods has not found the winner’s circle in the last 10 major championship including the two he missed while injured) he has shown enough at Whistling Straits this weekend to suggest that with some off-season work (perhaps with a new swing coach, paging Sean Foley) he can once again be a consistent threat on the PGA Tour.

And ultimately, if they can reclaim their places as the most dominant players in the game, well, they’ll continue to be tied together in the history books as the greatest golfer and greatest tennis player of all time.